Introducing Iran

Introducing Iran

Country name

Conventional long form: Islamic Republic Of Iran

Local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran

Conventional short name: Iran

Introducing Iran – Name Origin

The name of Iran comes from the Old Persian word meaning “The land of the Aryans”. Iran has been the name of this country at least since the Sasanid period. However, until 1935, the English-speaking world know this country as Persia, a legacy of the Greeks who named the region after its most important province, Pars (present-day Fars).

Flag Description:

Iran’s flag is made of three equal horizontal bands of green, white, and red (from top to bottom). Centered in the white band is the red emblem – a stylized representation of the word Allah in the shape of a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom. The words, Allah Akbar, meaning “God is Great” are repeated 11 times along each of the edges of the green and red bands in white letters in Arabic script.

Location: Middle Ease

Area:

Total: 1,648,195 sq. km (633,491 sq. mile)

Land: 1,636,100 sq. km (628,878 sq. mile)

Water: 12.095 sq. km (4,612 sq. mile)

Area – comparative:

Iran is the size of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland all combined.

Introducing Iran – Land boundaries:

Total: 5,440 km (3,373 mile)

Coastline: 2,440 km (1,513 mile)

Climate: mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast

Terrain: Rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts and mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts.

Elevation Extremes:

Lowest point: Caspian Sea -28m (-92 ft)

Highest point: Damavand Peak 5,671m (18,600 ft)

Natural Resources: Petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur.

Population: 82,531,700 (2018)

Population Growth Rate: 1.29%

Sex Ratio: 1.05 males/female

Ethnic Groups: Persian 51%, Azari 24%, Gilaki and Mazanderani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkman 2%, other 1%

Languages: Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkish and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, other 3%.

Religious: Shiite Muslim 89%, Sunnite Muslim 10%, Christian, Zoroastrian, Jewish, and other 1%

Administrative divisions: 31 provinces (Ostanha)

Capital: Tehran

Government Type: Islamic Republic

Independence: 1 April 1979

Economy – overview: Iran’s economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. Reasonable oil prices in recent years have afforded Iran fiscal breathing room but have not solved Iran’s structural economic problems, including the encouragement of foreign investment and the containment of inflation.

Major industries: oil, gas, agriculture, carpets

Agriculture – products: Wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, diary products, wool, caviar.

Exports: petroleum 85%, Persian Handicrafts, carpets, fruits and nuts, iron and steel, chemical.

GDP: 439.5 billion USD (2017)

Currency: Iranian Rial (IR)

Domain: .ir